Bangkok, Thailand Sapphire Jewelry Scam
Manee Thai
357/2 Sukhothai Road, Suan Chitralada, Dusit, Bangkok 10300 Thailand
0-2241-0474, 0-2241-0475  Fax: 0-2214-0476

Summary of Events

PictureTake in some sights before you get scammed.
 1)      I showed up at the Grand Palace to see the sights.  A friendly Thai approached me and asked me where I was going. I told him “I’m going to see the Grand Palace”. He told me the Grand Palace was closed because monks are praying.

2)     The kind Thai man then proposed that I take a tour on a tuk-tuk to a few nearby temples.  He said, “Go see Standing Buddha Temple, Lucky Buddha Temple, Lying Buddha temple. Very good”.  He also mentioned, “And go to the Export Center, today you don't need to pay tax duty".  He waived down a tuk-tuk driver a few feet away who nods and said, "He’ll take you around all day and it will only cost 50 baht".  We didn't want to go, but it was an acceptable "Plan B" since it seemed like a good tour.

3)     The driver drove me around the city then arrived at the first temple, the Lucky Buddha.  It was very quiet, no other tourists.  I walked around, took a few photos,  met a guy and asked if he would take a photo of me and my family.  We started talking with us.  He was friendly and spoke perfect English.  At some point in the conversation the subject of the Export Center is brought up, something along the likes of “Have you been to the Export Center? No? You have to go, it is a special sale by government to promote tourism. There is no tax on exports that are purchased from this shop.  Don't let the tuk-tuk drover take you to another shop.  He will get a commission and you will get scammed.  Today is the last day of the government promotion.  You can buy at full price and when you go back to Korea, it will be worth 1/3 of what you bought it for.  There is no negotiating or haggling over price at the Export Center."  He continues to tell me that he has been doing the same thing for 6 years.  Visiting Thailand every year at the same time to take advantage of the tax incentive.  He also mentioned that you can sell it in Korea and told me exactly where I could sell it in Korea.  He mentioned that students have been doing this to cover their college tuition.  He knew everything about famous streets in Korean that sold jewelry so his knowledge of price seemed to match the story.  His stories were so vivid and believable.  My wife verified that everything that he was talking about was accurate.  He said, "Without the tax, you buy a ring for $3000 and it will be worth $9000 overseas because of the, again citing evidence of, the jewelry market needing to pay a 200% export tax on every other day.  He didn't do a hard sell but all of his stories and facts matched what I heard from the previous guy who seemed to be independent and all the stories.  He even knew facts about jewelry districts in my hometown of Portland that only locals know.  He seemed very knowledgeable.

4)      The Export Center was the 2nd stop on our tour. The tuk-tuk driver asked me “Export Center?” I said, "yes".

5)      The tuk-tuk driver took us to a jewelry store/gem store which everyone up until this point everyone says is the “Export Center”.  I couldn't tell anyway because I don’t read Thai.  There were a couple of other tourists in there so it seemed legitimate.  We spoke to a salesperson, find out what is of good value.  The sales person told me about the tax export tax incentive, therefore everything was 1/3 of the market value outside of Thailand.  I said “ok”.  All the information that I've hear for 3 (presumably) independent sources at this point have all said the same thing.  I thought, "It must be a good deal being verified by so many different people.  We bought a large ring, pendant, and earrings and thought they were 1/3 the price they would be when we got back to Korea.  Things are expensive in Korea.

6)      Once we got back to Korea we talked to several jewelry store clerks to assess their value.  3 different clerks informed us that the Jewelry that we bought for 221,600 baht ($6,220 USD) was worth at most around 89,300-106,800 baht ($2,500-$3,000 USD).  It means we paid 2-3x the market value.    They said they were selling us the jewelry at 1/3 the market price, which at the most would be 29,470-35,244 baht ($826-$987 USD).  What we were told by the Manee jewelry store clerk and the guy at the Lucky Buddha Temple with the Manee card, was false, misleading, and fraudulent.

At this point, I'm determining the most effective way to attain a 100% refund is to go there in person.  I've got confirmation from Manee Thai that they will refund 80% of the purchase (not sure if they will honor that since she said 0% if I say the word scam over the phone), but 80% is still unacceptable since the value they told me at the time of purchase was fraudulent, misleading, and false.  

Options
A - Fly to Bangkok and pay the travel expenses and lost work time for a guaranteed 80% or a possible 100% refund.

B - Hire a lawyer and give him power of attorney (POA) and at the least $1000 to negotiate and complete the refund.  I'll have to send him the jewelry from my home country so he can return the jewelry on my and my wife's behalf.  This will take time since I have to trust whomever I hand the jewelry over to.  This option scares me since my trust meter is very low right now.

Additional Action
-Call the Merchant to make sure I have all the necessary paperwork to process the refund on their end. (the only thing that they told me that was true was that I needed a power of attorney from my wife because we used my wife's card to purchase 2 of the pieces of jewelry that we bought.)
-Call the Tourist Police Station in that district the Merchant is located; 1155 is the number. (I called the wrong one in Phuket.  It needs to be the police station in that district)
After My Return Trip to Thailand Tips
-Get the jewelry professionally appraised if you can.  It will help you in the negotiation.
-The Tourist Police were helpful in coaching me into an 87% refund.  They get something out of it in the form of a bribe from the merchant (paid by you).
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The ride to be conned into the greatest, elaborate scam that I've ever experienced.
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The nice guy took a picture of our family then started talking to us about the Export Center and the great non-tax promotion they had and it was ending that day.
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The nice guy had this card on him and told us to go here or else the driver will take us to a place where the driver will get a commission and we will get screwed. I never told the driver to go here. The nice guy in the temple never talked to the tuk-tuk driver nor did they see eachother, but the tuk-tuk driver took us to the exact place "Manee Thai". I just thought it was the right place, "Export Center".
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These are the ladies that sold us the overpriced jewelry. There were so many people lying to us with conviction that without proper time and resources (ie. internet) to verify the information we got scammed bad.
My story is similar or identical to several others that have gotten scammed in Thailand.  From what I've read, this scam has been going on since 1988, involved the police, and military officials.  I can't validate any of that, however some have done research and found this to be true.  To read the stories, click below:
Other Jewelry Scam Stories

Location

It was really difficult for me to find the location of the jewelry store, even with the address.  When I went back there I took a picture and pinned the location in google maps so that those of you that will be returning for your refunds/settlements will not have to struggle like I did trying to find the place with the tuktuk driver.  4 tuktuk drivers declined to even take me there.  I'm note sure why.  They all asked me, "why?"  I told them because I need to go to the police and return my jewelry.  They just said no.  One guy eventually had pitty in his eyes and agreed to take me there to attempt to expedite my refund. 
Location: https://goo.gl/maps/R4VUQhsoCHR2